The 15th SP passed Resolution No. 24-65, Interposing no objection to the proposed columbarium project of the Diocese of Tagbilaran.
During their session early this February, the 15th SP invited Msgr. Jeffrey Malanog and Architect Veneranda Bernadette G. Dumadag to provide details on the proposed project. Msgr. Malanog explained that the Diocese of Tagbilaran shall be offering columbarium vaults to the parishioners in exchange for donations to the Diocese’s other construction projects and have additional funds as medical assistance to sick and aging priests.
Ar. Dumadag provided the technical details of the columbarium project which shall be established at the basement of the existing Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Church in Barangay Poblacion II and shall have 1,419 niches. Each niche can hold at most 4 small urns. A chapel and garden will also be constructed near the columbarium so that visitors may have a venue to meditate or pray.
Columbarium as defined by the Rules and Regulations to Govern Columbarium projects as a “structure, either freestanding or part of another building, containing niches for the inurnment of cremated human remains. Under the same Rules and Regulations, columbarium projects may be located in Institutional Zone particularly in areas designated for religious structure such as church, seminary, convents and other places of worship or congregation areas. Considering that the proposed Columbarium Project of the Diocese is to be situated at the basement floor of the existing Our Lady of Parish Church which is currently zoned as a General Institutional Zone in the City’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan, the project is within the allowable uses in the area. The sanggunian welcomed the idea of having a columbarium in the city considering that the city’s cemeteries are becoming more crowded
Resolution 24-65 is sponsored by Hon. Nerio D. Zamora II.